le . Silicon makes up the second most abundant element in the earth's crust . These panels could be placed virtually anywhere on the roofs of houses and buildings or into the sides of the buildings themselves . Solar power could be a reality today . However , oil companies such as Exxon who are the leading researchers in nuclear and solar technology , would rather have the nuclear because it would produce more money than the solar . Solar power is a cheaper source of electricity because you cannot turn off the sun . The same oil monopolies buy out smaller companies which are developing feasible solar power plants to keep them from being implemented and to maintain the hold on the fossil fuel market . Solar energy and thermonuclear fusion are great alternatives to the nuclear reactor but these will not be mass implemented until well into the next century . That does not solve the problem for today . To keep the number of nuclear power plants as low as possible people need to conserve , energy change lifestyles and recycle more of there wastes . We need to be less dependent on electricity and electrical products . Conservation must be implemented by government policies and guide lines . To have any affect at all on the amount of electricity that is consumed . " Anything that slows down the development of solar energy, the one cheap limitless source of energy that cannot be shut down by war or embargo, is undermining the national security of the United States " . Nuclear power has been a constant in all of our lives due to the many problems it has and to the many accidents that occur . Nuclear power is a dangerous and deadly tool that should not be taken lightly . Sadly this is exactly what has happened in regards to the accidents at Three Mile Island and again at the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union . In both cases inexperience and ignorance played major roles in the accidents . Hopefully this may never happe...
